Super excited to see that Martiusheva and Rogonov got a second Grand Prix! I hope they are able to skate well so that they'll continue to get more international competitive experience. When they skate well, they are gorgeous and really interesting to watch. For me, they stand out a mile above the other skaters in their style and on-ice presence. They just need that confidence that comes from consistently executing their elements in competition.

Really? Based on international scores, I thought C/S were way ahead of the pack for the second spot.

The original favs would have been Donlan/Speroff, based on US nationals. C&S won Graz with a score of 174.86, but I am not sure how much that will count, since all they beat there from the US was Donlan & Speroff, and Graz seems rather high scoring. They did score a personal best at SKAM 164.86, but only placed 5th there. Scimeca & Knierim have done well too, having won Cup of Nice as a brand new team with a score of 156.00, beating Stilbova & Klimov and Davankova & Deputat. They are another of the Sappenfield teams---and US judges love them some Sappenfield, for sure. C&S are a Boston based team.

Speaking of Mervin Tran, he is now 22 as of September 22. Since Japan does not permit dual citizenship, wouldn't he be expected to renounce his Canadian citizenship and apply for Japanese citizenship?

The way I see it, one of the following would need to happen:

-Tran renounces his Canadian citizenship, applies for Japanese citizenship if possible, and competes for Japan.
-Takahashi applies for Canadian citizenship, loses her Japanese citizenship, and competes for Canada.
-They remain as is, and are never able to compete at the Olympics.
-Japan changes it's rules, looks the other way, or makes an exception.

I was just wondering how did Scimeca and Knerim get chosen to compete? Seems so random with tonnes of teams out there why would skaters who I think are in their first year together with no pedigree - 7th and 10th at nationals get selected. Maybe I haven't kept up; because I don't think they would have a huge fan base or have shown that much promise compared to other Russian, American, Canadian or Chinese teams in particular. I am sure they are awesome people but just wondering it just seems so "odd"